Wildmeat consumption – greater threat to protected terrestrial animals

Wildmeat consumption – greater threat to protected terrestrial animals

Subject – Environment

Context – Consumption of wild meat has threatened the existence of several species protected under the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), according to a new report.

Concept –

• Consumption of wild meat has threatened the existence of several species protected under the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), according to a new report.
• Around 70 per cent of the CMS terrestrial mammals are hunted for wild meat consumption, the study by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on 105 species showed.
• As much as 64 per cent of the wild species were recorded as hunted. The share increased to 98 per cent excluding species like bats of the Chiroptera order.
• Overall, 60 per cent of the wild animals studied are recorded as traded (nationally or internationally; legally or illegally).
• Taking of wild animals for domestic use had a greater impact on most species than taking for international trade, the study found.
• The report indicates for the first time a clear and urgent need to focus on domestic use of protected migratory species of wild animals, across their range. We need to ensure that domestic laws and enforcement efforts are able to tackle this major threat to CMS species.
• Human activities that bring wildlife, domestic animals and humans into increasingly close contact has been linked to zoonotic disease emergence.
• More than half the CMS terrestrial mammal species are known to host at least one of 60 pathogens that have been, or have the potential to be, transmitted to humans and cause infections, according to the research.

Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS)

• CMS, an environmental treaty of the United Nations, provides a global platform for the conservation and sustainable use of migratory animals and their habitats.
• Bonn Convention is a name of the international treaty on the conservation of migratory species of wild animals, that was adopted in Bonn, Germany in 1979. It came into force in 1983.
• It is the only global treaty concerning the migratory species and works under the aegis of the United Nations Environment Programme.
• The convention has legally binding agreements and non-legally binding Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) which are tailored according to conservation needs.
• There are two appendices under the Bonn Convention:
  • Appendix I lists migratory species that are endangered or threatened with extinction.
  • Appendix II lists migratory species which have an unfavourable conservation status and which require international agreements for their conservation and management.

India & CMS

• India has been a party to the Convention since 1983.
• Indian subcontinent is a part of a significant bird flyway network, i.e, Central Asian Flyway that covers areas between the Arctic and Indian Oceans with at least 279 populations of 182 migratory waterbird species (including 29 globally threatened species).
• India has signed a non-legally binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with CMS on conservation and management of Siberian Cranes (1998), Marine Turtles (2007), Dugongs (2008), and Raptors (2016).
• India will be the President of COP to Bonn Convention till 2023. India recently hosted COP 13 to Bonn Convention in February 2020:
  • The theme of the 13th session of COP to Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals was, “Migratory species connect the planet and together we welcome them home.”
  • The mascot of the CMS COP 13 is Great Indian Bustard (Gibi).
  • The CMS COP 13 logo is inspired by ‘Kolam’, a traditional artform from southern India.